On Death and Dying in "Shiyakusho"

Also checking out the drama “Shiyakusho”about the “Death Office” where you go after you’ve died and they make you fill out all the necessary paperwork to decide if you got to Heaven or Hell. Seems even in death you can' get away from all this officious stuff!

I was excited to see Yuina Kuroshima in a “modern” drama after loving her in “Ashi-Girl” (yeah, I know there were modern bits in Ashi-Girl) and she’s such a doll here!

Yuina plays the just-deceased Miki Michiru who wakes up in the death office and is having a hard time wrapping her head around her fate.

 

She is introduced to the coordinator of the place Shimura (TOKIO's Masahiro Matsuoka) who tries to get her to fill out the paperwork and send her on her way, but the rambunctious girl isn't having it- She is convinced that she has been murdered, though no evidence seems to be found! 

So instead of filing her paperwork, she wanders the strange office and snoops around. She’s always where she shouldn’t be, and it’s here she finds the dark side of the business!

 

With Masahiro Matsuoka in the role of the floor coordinator of the office, I was dying to see this drama, expecting some wacky FUN...So far though, I have to say it is soooooo SLOOOOWWWWWWW that i could barely keep my attention. Instead of a fun romp dealing with the afterlife doings (a la DEATH OMUKAE or SHINIGAMI-KUN) this is one DREARY and MOROSE show.
As well, there are a lot of ideas here that just don't pan out. Why is Miki the only one who seems befuddled and confused here? Surely every person here is experiencing death for the first time like her, but she's the only one who seems lost.
And the procedure of having to fill out all those forms, even while bleeding all over the place and with missing limbs/parts of face. Surely there are a lot of deaths where you wouldn't be ABLE to physically do anything (blown up bodies, etc,) and what about the dead who have no heads, how could they even think much less fill out papers?
And speaking of bleeding, how come some of the people in the background all have bandages and casts while the main characters are left to walk thru the whole episode dripping blood everywhere? Very inconsistent.

And I dunno, maybe I've seen too many episodes of his previous show, but Matsuoka, with his clipped speech and stern features kept reminding me of MITAZONO-SAN, his wacky crossdressing Housekeeper.

His co-workers are a bit more lively and I hope they pep the show up some (Marika Matsumoto in particular is a sassy one!)

...but if not, at least we have the ALWAYS genki Yuina to save the day! Gotta say, I’m really hoping Yuina has a BIG part in this show, she’s the ONLY thing giving it its ZEST…at least so far! 

Will continue to watch…. 
EDIT: Ooh, looks like Kimiko Yo is set to be added to the cast in the next episode!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com

“You, Me & Bach~You and I On The G-String”

Very sweet drama about three individuals from completely different backgrounds who begin taking up violin lessons and who, through trials and tribulations, find friendship and understanding with each other as they make their way to the goal of proficiency.

All three people have had some sort of emptiness in their lives that needs fulfilling-

Yaeko Kogure (Haru) is a 30-ish woman who has been told by her fiancé just before the wedding that he loves someone else and that the wedding is off. Haru seems to take this in stride (after hammering him in the chin with a devastating right hook!) but unfortunately she’s already put in her resignation papers at her workplace and now is facing a life with no direction.

 On the day of her termination, she is wandering listlessly through the mall when she comes upon a pretty woman playing the most beautiful and hypnotic music. 

 She is Mao Kuzumi (Yuki Sakurai) and she is there to promote free adult lessons her school is giving out, While everyone loves her playing, not many take her up on her offer to take lessons, but Haru, mesmerizes by the woman’s performance (and admittedly without any more important goal to work for), grabs ahold of the idea of playing violin.

In the meantime  Yukie Kitagawa (Yuka Matsushita) is a busy middle-aged woman who is always bustling about taking care of her family, aloof husband and catty mother-in-law who is constantly putting her down.

In the midst of her hectic shopping, she is entranced by the same violin performance Haru has seen, and when her family comes to take her away, she is so enamored of the music that she grabs a flyer in hopes of becoming a student as well!

And then we have Rihito Kase (Taishi Nakagawa), a College student who, upon seeing the mall performance, seems to be more invested in the woman playing the violin than the violin itself, and once we get to know him  we find out why- Seems he’s the younger brother of Mao’s fiancé who, just like Haru, dumped her right before their wedding because of another woman. But the obvious "secret" here is that he is in love with Mao himself, and is seemingly taking the lessons purely to keep in contact with her.

Of course, none of the three know anything about each other at first, and in fact, their personalities clash with each other more than not- well, the two ladies get along, but Kase, who is rather serious about his violin practice, find them frivolous and silly at first.

It’s only after they’ve spent some time with each other that they begin to understand each other and realize every one of them has their own problems and desire to be acknowledged. Through violin they hope to reach that goal!

It will be no surprise to any of you when I say how much I love actress Haru.  Just about every drama I’ve seen her in has been great, and she’s one of those girls who really immerses herself into her roles, making for every believable characters that you love and want to root for.

This is a bit of a different take for her- playing a pretty and efficient OL who gets demoted to frumpy T-shirt wearing bumpkin (it’s like she’s playing the Haru Kuroki “Nagi” character sometimes, LOL), when I first saw the promo pic for this drama, I thought it was Riho Yoshioka, but no problem, Haru EASILY made it her own!

The last time I saw actor Taishi Nakagawa he was playing the buffoonish comedy relief in the wacky (at times) Yuko Takeuchi drama QUEEN, so it’s bit hard to see him as this “kakkoi” kind of guy. But he plays off Haru so well, it’s perfect fit!

And then there’s Yuki Sakurai. First got to see her in Zettai Seigi and then fell in love with her as the vulnerable Mana in “ Dakara Watashi wa Oshimashita” and WOWOWOW, she’s so freaking BEAUTIFUL in this drama! REALLY becoming a big FAN of her!

And I HAVE to mention how comforting it is to still see wonderful Yuki Matsushita in my daily J-dramas. She was one of the VERY FIRST actresses I fell in love with back when I was first getting into dramas back in the mid 90’s and she is still as kind and lovable as ever!

BTW, this girl playing Rihito’s girlfriend or friend Yua is an actress named Haru Konishi, and, MAN , she looks SO much like actress Manami Konishi (whom we really haven’t seem much of lately), makes you wonder if they’re related somehow!

Posted by zdorama @ zdoramaagain.blogspot.com